An outline of the documentary

Super Size Me is a documentary directed by Morgan Spurlock in 2004 about Morgan’s McDonalds diet for 30 days and what happens to the body if you only eat McDonalds food from the 1st of February to March 2nd 2003. The film documents the effect the food has on Spurlock’s physical and mental health after eating the junk food three times a day. He ate every single item off the menu which out of the 30 days only took him nine to do so.

Production details

• Morgan Spurlock directed, produced, wrote and stared in the documentary.

• Editor was Julie Lombardi • Production company was The Con.• Distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films Roadside

Attractions.• The budget was $65,000, in the box office is made

$29,529,368 bringing in a profit of $29,464,368.

Type of documentary and the features it

employs

Super Size Me is an expository documentary as it has most of the features. Firstly there was a narrator who was Morgan Spurlock himself explaining different parts of the documentary. He also uses a structure throughout for example he starts off with him going to get professional advice, and then in chronological order shows him going through the 30 days ending with him being unhealthy and ill. But in-between there were little subheadings like ‘children’. In the documentary there was a reconstruction/animation about how much money each fast food chain made against how much a healthy chain made though advertising. Spurlock throughout does stereotype and simplifies the argument as he doesn’t discuss the positives of McDonalds, for example he doesn’t talk about the charity work its been involved in in detail, he just briefly mentions it near the end.

The message and purpose of the documentary

I believe the purpose of the documentary is to try and prove the theory that McDonald's Restaurants are knowingly selling food that is unhealthy is true. So documentarian Morgan Spurlock decides to conduct an unscientific experiment using himself as the guinea pig to only eat McDonald's for thirty days, three meals a day, and if he is asked by the worker if he would like the meal to be super sized, he has to say yes. Also I think Spurlock made this documentary to make people aware of what they’re eating. The message I consider is to show the viewers the pros and cons of the fast food lifestyle, and what I found that had a big impact when watching is that he used himself. As he goes through the experiment, he speaks to a number of people - many experts including a general practitioner, a cardiologist and a gastroenterologist to find out more about how his body is reacting to this diet. He also consults with a dietitian/nutritionist and an exercise physiologist.

Stereotyping/Simplification

As I said before Spurlock throughout stereotypes and simplifies the argument because he doesn’t discuss the positives of McDonalds an example being, he doesn’t talk about the charity work its been involved in in detail, he just briefly mentions it near the end. Also throughout the documentary he rarely/never shows skinny people eating McDonalds.

Narration

Spurlock being the narrator himself means he now becomes the ‘voice of God’ showing that he is all-knowing (omniscient), all-powerful (omnipotent) and trust-worthy ( we believe him).

Morgan also becomes the voice of authority (expert) as he goes to experts to gain the knowledge we again means we believe what he is saying.

Script/Structure

Even though there isn’t a written script, there is a structure of how the documentary goes, it’s what you call broken up in title cards. Spurlock would’ve needed to know what he wanted to record to then put it in chronological order. For example the first thing we see is a bunch of children singing the Kentucky fried chicken song.

Impact/Influence

Even though McDonalds say there was no impact, one day before the release of the movie they introduced a new “Go Active” menu. So they clearly felt the pressure to add healthy options on their menu before the general public viewed the movie.

Interviews

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media contexts and critical debates

Uses terminology appropriately and with accurate and coherent written expression.

Apply knowledge and understanding to show how meanings are created when analysing media products.

Apply knowledge and understanding to show how meanings are created when evaluating their own practical work.

Demonstrate the ability to plan media products using appropriate technical and creative skills.

Demonstrate the ability to construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills.

AO4 Demonstrate the ability to undertake and apply appropriate

research.

AO1

AO2

AO3

These are the assessment criteria you need to keep in mind.